Bad Amp-share....

[tombomb]

So played a really fun gig last night on a boat on the Thames, after agreeing to bring my amp+cab across London on public transport.

My amp over-powers my cab so I said to the other bassist don't go above 6 or 7 (which he really wouldn't need to in such a small venue)

The inevitable happens, during their set the bass conks out, I get up to ghve a look and it's completely maxes out, gain and master.

So, long story short, does anyone know somewhere to fix a B115r and how much it costs?
With my very limited knowledge it's probably the coil right?

[umph]

you shouldn't be asking these questions the other bassist should be

[JTUK]

This would have me fuming... and you can see many many threads about gear share here.
You can try billing the guy...but you also need to know what speaker they used in that cab
so contact the maker in the first instance.

It is likely to be a bespoke chassis for that maker so maybe some guys here can match the specs and point you in the right direction
with the driver. Can you see what is printed on the chassis..?

They will be along soon..hopefully.

[tombomb]

It's a standard ampeg B115r so shouldn't be too hard should it?

Was pretty angry last night, in hind sight I should have seen it coming.

The guy turns up without an E string on his bass asking if I have a replacement (which I don't) so th only other option is for him to use my bass (which he does)
I mean it wasn't even that he broke it in transport, he arrived without a fully strung guitar.

I know it's the season of goodwill, of which I normally have a lot, but I feel like a co
Plate idiot letting this guy near my stuff.

[Lozz196]

This is why, unless I know the other player personally, I don`t let people use my gear. For one, it`s disrespectful. For two, I think I would get very annoyed at something like this, and I wouldn`t trust myself to behave civilly.

[charic]

I would have told him to hop it.

I don't share my bass/amp or cab. I WILL reluctantly share cables if needs be.

I've had quite firm arguments about it but it stops incidents like the above happening and means I don't have to claim on my instrument insurance (touch wood).

[tombomb]

I know the drummer pretty well but has never met the bassist.

I don't mind sharing, just angry that the took the piss.

Anyway, back to the main point, is fixing my cab something I could do? Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[paul_5]

Yup, the other idiot bassist should be ringing Panic Music in Cambridgeshire to fix your ampeg. THey're not cheap, but it'll be done properly and maybe he'll learn from the experience.

also, punch him in the throat.

[Mr. Foxen]

Shouldn't be your problem, the cost, and the hassle are down to idiot three string bassist. Shoulda told him to get a five string so he'd have a spare.

[JTUK]

Assume you have no warranty..and no warranty will likely pay out if you mention that story..that is wanton abuse, so hand in pocket time, probably.

I would talk to Ampegs distributor about there costs to replace recone the chassis... this will prob be the most expensive.

Ampeg..and other makers aren't likely to share the info on the speaker used...and it would probably be a speaker known to
people..but it may be badged for Ampeg alone.... or made to their specs from a known model line..

can you get a look at it and see if there are any giveaway markings on it.. even who made it...probably Eminence...?


The problem with putting replacement chassis in a cab is if you don't know the spec and how/if it is tuned, the new speaker might run like a dog and it is such a lot of chance...so you do need someone here to pipe up and point you in the right direction...and help them with any other details with which they could narrow the choice down.

Patience..I am sure someone will have more pertinent info soon

[tombomb]

Cheers.
He's said he's gonna foot the bill but I'm not entirely confident that will happen.
Similarly if I get him to sort out the repair it'll almost certainly be half arsed....

[Mr. Foxen]

If he is footing the bill, get a written estimate, and get that paid.

[Machines]

I had this happen once, the gig 'organiser' said one of the bands didn't have a bass amp and can he borrow mine ? I insisted on showing him the settings to not touch - got the input level sorted so he wasn't maxing the preamp and told him he could ONLY use the master volume knob. To be fair - he didn't touch anything and was actually far too quiet FOH, maybe I scared him too much .

[umph]

get a kappalite and retune the ports. Would be a sound plan to me

[Musky]

Put a multimeter/continuity tester on the speaker to confirm the coil has gone, then get in touch with Wembley Loudspeakers - as far as I know they're the only people in London that do this kind of work. The Ampeg distributors would just replace the entire speaker, so it may prove more economical to get the coil sorted.

[tombomb]

Cheers guys, BC saves the day again!
I think I'll forever refer to him as the 3 stringed wonder.
So it looks ad though I've got something to research whilst chomping on leftovers.
Couple of questions;
-After a bit of preliminary research, could I just buy a new driver unit and put it in myself?
-I could get a 4ohm that wouldn't get killed by my amp, what are the pitfalls of this?
-I didn't know you could "tune" cabs/ports, what does this mean?

[brensabre79]

[quote name='tombomb' timestamp='1324716238' post='1477230']
Cheers guys, BC saves the day again!
I think I'll forever refer to him as the 3 stringed wonder.
So it looks ad though I've got something to research whilst chomping on leftovers.
Couple of questions;
-After a bit of preliminary research, could I just buy a new driver unit and put it in myself?
-I could get a 4ohm that wouldn't get killed by my amp, what are the pitfalls of this?
-I didn't know you could "tune" cabs/ports, what does this mean?
[/quote]
If you get a different driver you'll have to re-tune the port in your cab (i.e change the size) to suit (if this is possible) which can get complicated. Plus even though 3strings was a complete cock he should foot the bill for a like-for-like replacement really.

On the rare occasions I've had to share my amp I have gaffa taped over the volume controls for exactly this reason. Even then I've come back to an amp with every fader on the graphic turned up to absolute max. There are some right idiots out there who think that spending £75 on a bass and amp from a charity shop makes them a musician. They also seem to think its absolutely OK to mess with hundreds of pounds worth of other peoples hard-earned equipment. This is why hire companies take a deposit.

Sorry for the rant but your story made my blood boil, it's happened to me long ago and its an expensive way to find out that no good deed goes unpunished. Sadly the company who made my drivers doesn't make them any more so I had to re-tune my cab.

Your best bet is either get hold of Ampeg in the UK and get a replacement driver, or get a quote for the repair of the speaker, and get the money from the 3string ahole. If you want to upgrade your rig I would just get another cab to be honest.

[xgsjx]

You can put in a replacement driver, but find the specs of your Ampeg driver & cab get a driver that has the same (or very close to) requirements (cab size & port requirements).

A 4Ω driver would allow you to draw the full wattage from the amp. Downside is that full wattage probably wouldn't be noticed by anyone without a meter & you wouldn't be able to add another cab if you do need more volume (unless your amp runs at 2Ω).

If you're putting a different driver in your cab, then some port tuning might be required. Tuning is done by changing the length of the port. If it's a tube, then that's not difficult, if it's a shelf, then it's not gonna be easy.


Edited because a load of crap appeared in the post! Anyone else get that stuff

Edited December 24, 2011 by xgsjx

[tombomb]

Cheers guys, that's really useful advice.

Amp does go down to 2ohms so could quite happily run a 4...
Taking on board your comments on port tuning though I think I'm better sorting this cab out then swapping/selling for something that can take what my amp can throw.
Merry Christmas!!

[Monckyman]

+1 for Wembley speakers. They do all sorts of speaker repairs and recones.
Get a quote, I suspect about £50.
If you really want to upgrade to a more powerful 4ohm option it probably wouldn`t cost more than £80 but as stated, you`d need to tweak the ports.
As far as I know, Ampegs are fitted with speakers made by Eminence.
Try here>[url="http://www.lean-business.co.uk/eshop/eminence-bass-guitar-speakers-c-99.html?page=2&sort=20a"]http://www.lean-business.co.uk/eshop/eminence-bass-guitar-speakers-c-99.html?page=2&sort=20a[/url]
Good luck whatever you do.
MM

[Big_Stu]

Maplins used to do a very reasonable price on an Eminence Delta 15. you may get lucky with putting a speaker in & find that it doesn't need tuning; I did exactly that with a Marshall 2 x 15 cab, even though it was then 4x the wattage.
Can't find online what the wattage/ohmage of your cab is, but the Eminence is 400w at 8 ohms.
Switching over is as easy as a screwdriver & possibly a soldering iron for two spots at the most.

[4-string-thing]

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1324733164' post='1477426']
Maplins used to do a very reasonable price on an Eminence Delta 15. you may get lucky with putting a speaker in & find that it doesn't need tuning; I did exactly that with a Marshall 2 x 15 cab, even though it was then 4x the wattage.
Can't find online what the wattage/ohmage of your cab is, but the Eminence is 400w at 8 ohms.
Switching over is as easy as a screwdriver & possibly a soldering iron for two spots at the most.
[/quote]

I replaced the 2 15's in my old Acoustic cab with 2 Eminience Beta's to increase the power handling. I know nothing about tuning ports or anything. My ears couldn't tell any difference, and I can rest easy knowing that my Ashdown head won't blow them up! If I ever sell the cab, I will replace the original speakers.

[MoonBassAlpha]

Firstly, have you checked that it isn't an output fuse at the amp that has blown, and checked the speaker with a different amp?
It would be a bit gutting to go to the expense of replacing/repairing the speaker if it is only a tiddly fuse at fault.

Analogy: my car wouldn't start, bought a lovely new battery. Turned out to be the starter motor after all, nothing wrong with the battery...

[attackbass]

I love it when bass players from other band ask to use my rig at shows. If I know them then it's not a problem or if the band seem decent and there amp has died on them then I'll let them use my head as well as the 8x10. What really pissed me off is when somebody asks me to use my rig because it's better than theirs and louder. This happened to me in France this year, a guy turned up with a combo then asked me if he could use mine as it would sound a lot better than his. I laughed and said no and pointed out that I bought my rig for myself to use to sound good and that he had a combo which was adequate enough to be used live. If he wanted a bigger set up then he too could buy one. Not sure how much he understood and I felt a little bit of a dick but the guy was quite rude about it so I thought F**k off! I've also played other shows in france where I've let the band cab share and next thing I know see them taking my head off and putting theirs on instead without asking... tho it's happened in the UK too. I'm not anti-french!

[Ed_S]

[quote name='attackbass' timestamp='1324995800' post='1478945']
What really pissed me off is when somebody asks me to use my rig because it's better than theirs and louder [...] a guy turned up with a combo then asked me if he could use mine as it would sound a lot better than his. I laughed and said no [...] he had a combo which was adequate enough to be used live. If he wanted a bigger set up then he too could buy one. Not sure how much he understood and I felt a little bit of a dick but the guy was quite rude about it so I thought F**k off!
[/quote]

Completely fair play if he was being rude to you, but personally I'd find that request many orders of magnitude less irritating than the ones who rock up and just expect to borrow something to play through with no prior arrangement. Number of times I've had people half-ask / half-tell me that they intend to plug into my rig when they blatantly have nothing of their own with them (not even a DI box), usually without even so much as a nod or a thumbs-up as they walk off, is untrue. I'd feel much better about letting them plug in had they clearly brought a gig-worthy combo with them, but came up and said "...yours is much better and it's already on stage, and since all I need is basic clean, do you mind?".